ORLEANS – After three decades of operation, the Cape House Shop Hallmark store in Orleans will be closing next month.
Alan Horvitz, who has owned the store for the last five years, said the business, located in the Skaket Corners plaza off Route 6A, has been hurt by the increase of online shopping.
Horvitz said he decided not to renew his lease, which expires at the end of February, after a down holiday season.
“Obviously, it is depressing to have to close the store when you have so many loyal customers who were good to us over the years,” Horvitz said.
The store, which branded itself as “not your typical card shop,” offered cards for every occasion and everything that can be found at Hallmark Gold Crown stores, along with gifts and more.
Retailers shutting down in that plaza is a continuing trend with the recent departures of Olympia Sports, RadioShack and GNC.
“It’s been a tough time around here,” he said.
Horvitz said summer sales had been dropping as well in recent years and contributed some of that decline to the increasing presence of white sharks and Main Street construction.
“It was just a judgement call that it was probably time to move on,” he said.
Horvitz said the landlord was not willing to renegotiate the lease terms until it was too late and a decision to close had already been made.
“It was just the perfect storm of things, but it was a sad decision to make,” he said.
Horvitz said regular customers to the store were devastated when they heard the news.
“Some of them were coming in in tears,” he said.
The store was also a place where customers would socialize.
“They came in and they ran into neighbors and friends and they have been coming here for decades,” he said. “It was a good place. We tried to keep the atmosphere very light and happy at all times and people took advantage of that, and they liked coming here.”
Horvitz said the staff has been phenomenal and helped set the welcoming mood.
He said the longtime customers understand the importance of shopping local and they are the ones who get hurt the most by the closure.
“We are having people email and call us from New York and New Jersey,” he said. “They come up here every summer and look forward to their visits, and they are very disappointed.”
The retail industry is not in the future for Horvitz.
“I knew retail was on the decline, but I didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it did,” Horvitz said.
There is a convenience for younger generations to make purchases online.
Horvitz said long-term effects will not be good for local communities.
“Most of the money you spend in a store like ours stays on the Cape. If you shop on Amazon it is 100 percent off Cape. It’s gone,” he said.
Online shopping also hurts local residents who depend on the income from retail jobs.
“We support the churches, schools and charity programs that are around here for their auctions and fundraising events,” he said. “All that goes away when you shop online and don’t support the local businesses.”
Horvitz hopes local residents get back to having that mindset to support the small businesses that remain.
He said his short-term goal is to make sure everything goes smoothly with the closing and that staff are taken care of.
“I’ll worry about me after the fact,” Horvitz said.
The store’s last day of operation will be Presidents’ Day February 17.
Horvitz said it will probably be more depressing the day after the store closes its doors.
“We have to clean up and do the remainder of the inventory that is here,” he said. “It will all set in that this is really happening and we made the decision and it has now become a reality and everyone has to move on. I’m sure it will be difficult.”
A closing sale is underway with discounts up to 70 percent off. All sales are final and store fixtures are for sale as well.
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